In 1958, Gibson changed the top finish on the
regular Les Paul model from the gold color used since 1952 to
the Sunburst finish already being used on Gibson's archtop
acoustic and hollow electric guitars such as the J-45 model.
These Sunburst-finished guitars were later referred to as Les
Paul Standards to differentiate them from the earlier Goldtop.
The hardware specification was the same as that of the '57
Goldtop, featuring PAF humbucker pickups with some models
carrying the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece along with the tune-o-matic
bridge, with some models also caring the Kahler Tremolo System.
Today, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has BurstBucker pickups on
the Vintage Original Spec models and Burstbucker Pro on the
lower end models bearing the 'Standard' name.

2008
Standard

Gibson's new version of the Les Paul Standard.
Released August 1, 2008, it features a larger neck tenon, an
asymmetrical neck profile to make for a comfortable neck, frets
levelled by Plek machine, and locking Grover tuners with an
improved ratio of 18:1. With the 2008 model Gibson has
introduced their "weight relief" chambering, which includes
routing "chambers" in specific areas of the mahogany slab body
as specified by Gibson R&D. Before 2008, Les Paul Standards were
"swiss cheesed." In other words, it had holes routed into the
body, but it was not chambered like most of Gibson's Les Paul
lineup now is. In 2008 Gibson also introduced the Les Paul
Traditional. The Traditional is built using the traditional Les
Paul specifications; such as Kluson style tuners, 57 Classic
pickups, and an unchambered body.